Commedia Dell'Arte

Background

Commedia Dell'Arte is italian comedy. Ironically it means Comedy of Proffession or Comedy of Art. It also stands for improvised or unwritten drama. It is still used today, with many actors specialising in it. It was around for probably 400 years but was most well known in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuary. Performers played in temporary stages, such as city streets or court venues. Better troupes such as Gelosi, Confidenti performed in palaces. They also became internationally famous once they travelled abroad. They used dance, music and witty dialogue to create the comedy effect. When performed abroad, the language didn't change to the country's language, as some of the characters already used dilect of the country.

Performing in the streets was an advantage for Commedia, as it removes the 'fourth wall' and relates to the audience much more. This is also significant as the characters relate to the audience a lot.

Characters:
 'Regardless of region, il Capitano would have spoken in Spanish, il Dottore in Bolognese, and l'Arlecchino in utter gibberish.' il Capitano, il Dottore and l'Arlecchino are stock characters. The focus is on the physicality rather than the spoken words.

'Arlecchino was the most famous. He was an acrobat and a wit, childlike and amorous. He wore a cat–like mask and motley colored clothes and carried a bat or wooden sword.

Brighella, Arlecchino's crony, was more roguish and sophisticated, a cowardly villain who would do anything for money.

Il Capitano (the captain) was a caricature of the professional soldier—bold, swaggering, and cowardly.

Il Dottore (the doctor) was a caricature of learning—pompous and fraudulent.

Pantalone was a caricature of the Venetian merchant, rich and retired, mean and miserly, with a young wife or an adventurous daughter.

Pedrolino was a white–faced, moon–struck dreamer and the forerunner of today's clown.

Pulcinella, as seen in the English Punch and Judy shows, was a dwarfish humpback with a crooked nose, the cruel bachelor who chased pretty girls. This shows that the character has influenced shows that happened hundreds of years later..

Scarramuccia, dressed in black and carrying a pointed sword, was the Robin Hood of his day.

The handsome Inamorato (the lover) went by many names. He wore no mask and had to be eloquent in order to speak the love declamations.

The Inamorata was his female counterpart; Isabella Andreini was the most famous. Her servant, usually called Columbina, was the beloved of Harlequin. Witty, bright, and given to intrigue, she developed into such characters as Harlequine and Pierrette.

La Ruffiana was an old woman, either the mother or a village gossip, who thwarted the lovers.

Cantarina and Ballerina often took part in the comedy, but for the most part their job was to sing, dance, or play music.'

Lazzis
Lazzi's are used in commedia Dell'Larte. It means 'Joke' in Italian. It was used as a rehearsed comedy. It was used to make time up or ensure a certain amounts of laughs in a performance. Lazzi's would be passed down generations. In a performance, any Lazzi could be used at any point, whether be used as a catch phrase or not. Once one character started the Lazzi, the other characters would fall into place, therefore teamwork is heavily required on the company. Harlequin or Zanni would have the most Lazzi's in a performance at their disposal.

What happened in the lesson?
We were put into groups and then got given a character to understand the characteristics of the character. We got given Pantalone and so we focused on how vain the character was. We imagined a mirror in front of us and performed what type of looks he would do in the mirror, as he was a fellow. I found this lesson a little confusing as I didn't understand totally the article we were given at the beginning.

In another lesson of studying this we were given the task to devise a performance. I was in a group with James and Hayley and we decided to use the scenerio given by Andy of 'The Rotten Tooth' and we decided that over exaggeration would make it comedic. We also used movements and then stuck in them, and used speech to tell the audience (our peers) what is going on. I learn that simple but over exagerrated movements is what makes the audience laugh. I really enoyed this lesson because I felt me, James and Hayley worked really well together and everyone was laughing at each others performances which shows that they all worked. The only thing that we didn't do was to use the stock characters of Commedia Dell'Larte which was the point of the lesson but the lesson was learnt that we shouldn't get carried away.

Bibliography
http://www.theatrehistory.com/italian/commedia_dell_arte_001.html
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800a.htm
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800b.htm
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Lazzi